THING #23

Wow, I discovered so many things during this experience. I thought I was pretty technologically savvy before this class so I very surprised the amount of resources I was unaware of. Even more shocking, was the amount of these resources allready downloaded on my teacher laptop. I honestly would have a five page blog entry to discuss they many things I have learned and plan to use.
The discovery I am currently using the most is del.icious. I have downloaded the tabs on my browser and use the "tag" tool every time I come across I great website, especially good blogs during this journey. There are certain sites I use on a regular basis and the bookmarking tool will help me quickly access these during the school day and at home.
A few of the sites or discoveries I will use right away this school year are: flickr, rollyo, teachertube, and Podcasting.


How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
As a lifelong learner my goal is to consistantly keep myself educated and continously update my knowledge base. As technology grows at a rapid pace, education has to keep up and attempt to stay ahead of our students. This was an extraordinary experience to learn the key elements to integrate technology into classrooms. I feel confident that I can successfully use techonology on a regular basis as well use technology tools to motivate and inspire my students.

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was very surprised at the amount of tools I did not know about. As I progressed through the course I was teaching my friends, family members, and colleagues about the newest technologies available. I can not believe how many resources are available for free and easily at our access.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I thought this was a very successful format. I agree with another blog I read, in that we had to sign up for alot of different websites and programs. Maybe at the beginning of the session next year, there could be a note or a note to learners that the project will include many log-in and passwords. Learners could make a word document or spreadsheet including all the information.
I know I have already forgotten so many of mine.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
yes, I travel during the summer and also take graduate classes so the online flexibility was extremely helpful for me. If this was a physical class, I would not have been able to make and would have lost out on this great learning experience.


How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?

23 Things takes teaching to the next level.



Now go and comment on some of the other Players' blogs?

Thing #22

I spent some time on the site Ning for Teachers. What I enjoyed the most on this site were the blogs. There are times where the only people in the world who can relate to the stresses of a teacher are other teachers. I read a blog about 5 things to remember to do in order to stay calm at the beginning of the school year. Hearing comments and blogs about this topic helped remind me that we (teachers) are all in this together and understand each other. I believe teachers have one of the hardest jobs out there so what a great social network to support one another and help each other out during the challenges of each school year.

Thing #21

I plan to use podcasting and videocasting in my classroom alot this year. There is nothing better to a student, then to produce something using his/her own voice or pictures. I struggles to get my microphone to work so used a musical background to go along with my pictures. My plan, when I can get the microphone working, is to use this to show my friends and family pictures of my wedding venue for my March wedding. THis is a great way to describe what each picture is as my friends and family view the pics. I sent them these pictures through a picture sharing site but now I can send them the pictures with commentary.

Thing #20

I found a video on TeacherTube that consitsted of a student discussing the procedures the class went through during their MockRock scientific experiment. I enjoyed this video because I plan to use this idea this year. This is a great way to involve technology into curriculum subjects. THe explanation each student produces on his/her video could be used as an assessment and a great link to send home to parents and families. I struggled to embed the video so I copied the link below. I will continue to explore embeding videos on to my blog.

http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=404&title=3rd_Grade_Mock_Rock_Activity

Thing #19

I actually found two sites that I found very useful for my personal life. Zillow is a Real Estate website that received a #1 ranking. It was very user-friendly and offered easy tools to search homes for sale in certain areas. I also found a social website that I might use to search upcoming events around Houston. "Upcoming" offered a list of various activities, events, shows, etc. around town for certain upcoming dates. This is very helpful when guests come in town or just as we look for things to do on the weekends.
Flickr was ranked #1 for Photos and Digital images. The most useful part of this site will be searching the millions of images for pictures to use in our classrooms. This site offers many excellent images of real life pictures. There are many times where students need to see a real picture of the topic or item studies. I can't wait to use Flickr to search for images as I plan my lessons.




What is special about the tool? What are its useful parts, especially with regards to Libraries and school? How might you use this tool in your own setting?

Thing #18

It is crazy that SBISD computers had open office tool already downloaded and I didn't even know about it. I look forward to experimenting with this program more and improving my competancy with it. A major advantage of this program is the capability to share documents easily with others and the easy access on any computer with internet. It will take awhile to get used to it, though, as microsoft is so easy and second nature to us all. I read on another blog, the concern with internet connection. This is something to worry about because internet connection is not always 100%. With Microsoft word one can complete documents with or without internet.
Google docs is wonderful. I really enjoyed looking at the public templates already availble. This tool can be very helpful for teachers and co-workers colaborating and sharing documents. I don't see many disadvantages to Googledocs except for the same internet connection concern.

Thing #17

Rollyo is a really helpful website. There are so many times when researching that the kids just want to use "google". They feel restricted when we give them one or two websites to choose from. I definetly will use Rollyo in my classroom. I searched for existing Rollyo searches and came across one for studying the Solar System. I changed the title name and edited to make it work for my classroom. I can't wait to share this site with my teammates and our librarian. After I finish the 23 Things I am going to have to go back through everything to remember all these great tools.

http://rollyo.com/hartma2j/hartman_3rd/